Bands To Watch Out For
Junkhead


Stanley Vince, Luke Haley

Question: So, just to get things out of the way, break the ice a little, I'd like to point out, Aberdeen isn't exactly a bustling music metropolis, eh?
Luke Haley: Yeah, I guess you could say that, but I think that's what makes for the most inspired music. I mean, if you look down the line, the greatest bands of all time almost always come from those little hole in the wall places, it just kinda breeds a life of it's own. I can tell you first hand, I could probably count with just my 5 right fingers the number of things to do in a place like Aberdeen, so what better option do you have but to start a band? You see, by being so secluded from outside artists, we've been able to develop our own unique style that pertains pretty heavily to our environment, which is the dark, abysmal, junkie town USA of Aberdeen.
Stanley Vince: Plus fuckin' Nirvana's from there, so something must've gone right for us to happen, bro.

Q: Luke, you mentioned a lot of bands have developed to their own, secluded environments. Got any specifics?
Haley: Well, you got the basics like the original Red Hot Chili Peppers before they went pop, I mean, those dudes pretty much grew up into the LA underground punk scene, and you can really here that on their first couple records. Another great example is Pantera. They came from like, Nowhere, TX and just hit everybody over the head with the brutal combo of fucking ZZ Top, Slayer and Ozzy Osbourne. I think the point is, you don't even need to necessarily be music exiles or anything, it's just the most true, down to heart, fucking amazing bands out there never grew up in upper-class white suburbia, with 2 parents, a golden retriever and 4 white washed fences. That's the kind of band we wanna be, the one who doesn't fucking follow any trends, just goes out and kicks ass.




The most true, down to heart, fucking amazing bands
out there never grew up in upper-class white suburbia,
with 2 parents, a golden retreiver and 4 white washed fences

Q: Cool, so, what's the history behind Junkhead?
Vince: Well, not much to the party so far, but all I remember was this punk right here [points to Haley] was in a Slayer/Sepultura cover band, and that's how we met, cause I was teching for one of their shows. We started renting a place together, and all of the sudden it turns out Senor BP's [Luke Haley, BP is short for brown powder] joining this crazy ass ska punk band called One Finger Salute, and he wants me to play guitar for them as well. Now, let me tell you, I aint much of a ska type a' guy, so this had to be worth my while. Ol' Willy [Will Sullivan, drummer of Junkhead], Nicko [Nick Cornell, bassist of Junkhead] and I had Junkhead all lined up, but we just needed a singer, so I told Sir Lucas here I'd give his ska punk band a shot if he fronted Junkhead. Lucky for me, soon after, One Finger Salute disbanded, and we got picked up by Metal Blade, talk about luck of the draw, brother. We've been in and out of the studio workin on demo ever since.
Haley: There were some set backs with recording however, someone booked into another part of the studio slipped up and jump started the biggest crack raid in the state of Washington, which put us back a week or two.

Q: And from what I've heard, this upcoming demo should be pretty stellar. In particular, I, and many of your fans I hear, was grabbed by the use of harmonized vocals, can you tell us anything about that?
Haley: If you really wanna get to the bare bones of it, we both write lyrics and vocal melodies, and sometimes Stanley's voice is just better suited for the job. He has a real dark, brooding voice, like Jerry Cantrell, where as I go for much more of a Layne Staley or Phil Anselmo approach to everything, with the real gritty and wrenching vocals. It play's out nicely a lot, because often times I write real dark lyrics involving my addiction and depression, and Stanley does a lot more of the person-to-person type stuff, so we can both give each other a hand lot's of times.
Vince: And ya better bet the demo's gonna be stellar. It's gonna blow yall outta the water brother!

Q: So, Stanley, what's the inside scoop? What defines you as a musician?
Vince: Woah man, that's a deep question right there. I think if I really had the answer to that, I'd be fuckin ding this interview over DVD or BluRay or something, man, cause dudes who can answer that go FAR. I guess as far as I know, I'm more of a ,"lets jam on this" type a guy, instead of the whole ,"now remember, we gotta reserve a minute at least for MY SOLO", ya know. I mean, shredding can win ya guitar prizes and stuff, and I will admit, I was the local Van Halen rip off kid in Aberdeen for a while, but really it's about what's gonna service the song best. If a bunch of whammy tricks and harmonics will add to the song, that's my goal, same goes for everything else, from Billy Gibbons-esque stuff to Dimebag, it doesn't matter, cause in the end, musics supposed to be something to rock out to, right? It isn't a fucking guitar contest bro, it's supposed to be fun.

Q: Speaking of fun, you guys are known as Junkhead. Is that just off the Alice In Chains song of the same name, or is there something more truthful to it?
Haley: Might as well get this outta the way right away, cause there isn't anything that I feel needs to be hidden. Everybody has their vices man, ours are generally speaking more substance fueled than most. I mean, I'm a dark, nihilistic person, it's how I write, act, everything, and there's just this whole level that you wouldn't ever even know about if it weren't for drugs. I'd say in a lot of ways, I was just brought up in it as a recreational sport, one of those 3 or 4 things to do in Aberdeen, you know? I'm not gonna sugar coat anything here, so basically, when it comes to most drugs, crank, blow, LSD, it doesn't matter, I've dabbled and played around, but it's the heroin that's really got me. The first time I had some quality Persian brown, there was such an incredible dark, perfect high, and I've been chasing it ever sense. At this point I think there's no way to put it other than I'm hooked, and at this point I know it's only a number of maybe 10 years (if I'm lucky) before it drags me down.
Vince: Unlike my junkie friend here, good ol' Stanley can quit any time he wants.... as long as it's next Tuesday. [laughs]

Q: So, it's safe to say you guys didn't exactly have perfect childhoods?
Vince: Caught me red handed man! Damn, do I just give this off? Well, I was raised till I was 8 on a farm, listening to country or being belted, tough time bro. Anyways, when I was 8 I hitched a ride with my older brother Joseph, and we took a bit of a road trip of sorts. 3 days, Montana to Aberdeen, man! I tried a lot of things for the first time on that trip, weed, zombie dust, Slayer, stealing from gas stations, ya know, the likes. Guess I never really went back from there man, terrorizing kids on the streets and doing dope at the age of 11. Not picture perfect, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Haley: Yeah, well, keeping it real simple, everyone told me my dad died, turns out he just was, and is, too hooked on meth to be accepted by pretty much anyone. You can kinda trace things out from there.

Q: We're almost outta time, but before we go, what can everyone expect in the future?
Haley: Well, our mentality when it comes to recording is a bit un-conventional. I see each EP, demo and LP as a project. Maybe one will be a neo-Exodus EP, and the next thing you know, we'll be putting out a collection of real deep and sinister acoustic songs, it's really whatever we feel we wanna commit to. As far as our debut demo is going, I'm gonna go ahead and say it's like a demon child of BadMotorFinger-era Soungarden and Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath. Should be good....